The Goddess Speaks
The Goddess Speaks
WHO's in charge of national holidays? Quick, call him! The spirit has just entered and nudged me one step closer toward enlightenment. Hallelujah, Tina is cleaning out her closet! ‘Retro’ fashion will
always be in styleI usually have such a hard time parting with stuff. I don't know why, but maybe it was the full moon in Virgo creating a perfect atmosphere for organization, just in time. I had just returned from months of travel and picked up a bunch of new stuff, which I had no room for. Somebody better haul the old stuff out quick before the moon moves into Libra and I start getting sentimental about that little Armani sweater, now pilling, shapeless, worn to death. Yes, I did get my money's worth.
You see, I've come to a cool place in my career as a girl. Call it fashion enlightenment. In fashion, one thing constant is change. Every time you pick up a magazine or turn on the fashion channel, you will notice everything in your closet is out of style. The media dictates our buying habits, telling us it's our duty to shop, but if you're like me and find it hard to throw things out, you've realized fashion isn't really changing much.
That militant army look in style now was in a couple of seasons ago, and before that, a couple of decades, as well. The word "retro" once referred to fashion worn 20 years ago. Now it describes clothes worn last year. We keep going round and round and it makes me want to scream, "Stop! Let me off!"
We did the '80s a couple of times in the '90s. The '60s and '70s hippie look is now a mainstay, and if it goes out, you can count on it coming back again. Designers are already doing the retro '90s look. What does that mean -- a culmination of styles '20s through '80s redone for the umpteenth time? Designers all seem a bit bored. There seems to be no more unexplored territory in the industry, nothing that hasn't been done already.
Secondhand stores tend to be already tuned into this retro idea, without having to claim to be In Style. They just are.
My giveaway stuff will be going to my friend Frieda People, a.k.a. Urban Nomad, the retro queen of Chinatown. Frieda, or Dr. Recycle as I call her, takes what you think is no longer in and gives it makeover surgery, garment awakening.
My Ultimate FV (fashion victim) Conclusion is: We are our possessions. So am I to be that old, shapeless Armani sweater or am I the new silk Indian number from Bali? Here are rules that may help potential FVs:
>> Retail therapy, or the quick fix, lasts only until your next fix, or until you are at a party and see your dress on someone else (and she looks better than you).>> If you haven't worn it in over a year, you won't wear it. Throw it out.
>> Media control. Don't fall victim to fashion editorials, cable channels or catalogs. Develop your own eye.
>> Make sure your closet includes a rainbow of color, pretty to look at. If you can't find that pair of black pants because everything in your closet is dark, you may be teetering on the brink of becoming an FV.
As a model, Tina Kasuya is most often seen,
not heard. She also writes screenplays and
is a concert promoter.
The Goddess Speaks runs every Tuesday
and is a column by and about women, our strengths, weaknesses,
quirks and quandaries. If you have something to say, write it and
send it to: The Goddess Speaks, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, P.O.
Box 3080, Honolulu, 96802, or send e-mail
to features@starbulletin.com.